A large force of SS are charged with the task of clearing a road over a hill and taking the town beyond without losing too many troops in the process. To accomplish their goal they have a ton of infantry, some engineers and heavy weapons and two platoons of StG IIIbs. Facing them are soem T-34s, BT-7s and a battalion of SMG with a few leaders scattered in for good measure.

As anyone who has played with the 1941/42 SS knows, trying to accomplish a task without experiencing massive losses is a difficult task and so it proved in this scenario. Although they massively outnumber the Soviets, the SS simply melt away, especially since they have to advance across a relatively featureless mile or so to get to the town.

The basic Soviet plan was to hide in the woods on the hill on Board 14 and hope to survive to late in the scenario and then pop back out onto the road, thus denying the Germans a possibility for a win. The Germans, however, decided to clear the road and the adjoining woods first. The SS quickly found the hiding submachine gunners but could not eliminate them. Early in the fight it appeared as though the Germans would be successful when they caused a step loss and chased the only Soviet leader in the woods out (failed a recovery in an assault hex and had to flee twice, leaving the remaining troops without a leader. This greatly hampered their ability to get to the road and ultimately was the reason that the Soviets would not reach this victory condition.

On the other hand, the hunt for the three remaining platoons in the woods (of four that started there) tied up more than a whole battalion of troops and sapped strength from the mvoement on the town. Initially it appeared as though the Germans would be able to put up a fight for the town but poor morale checks did them in as the massed Soviet tanks were able to shred the advancing SS. The StGs were able to cause massive Soviet tank losses but just when it seemed as though the Soviets would yield a small counterattack ended up demoralizing a 3 high stack of SS which then fled, took losses and fled again. At that point the Soviets felt comfortable sending some BTs and T-34s to try to contest the road, leading to the German complete abandonment of the town.

A Soviet minor victory was thus acheived with at least a chance for a major victory. I would expect the Soviets to win most of these battles given the lack of morale superioty amongst the Germans. Still a very entertaining play and well worth it. There are some hidden units so this one will probably play a little better face to face but if you can play with one of the hidden unit workarounds or can play as though you don't know they are there this one can work solo as well. I give it a "4" and I did play it solo.

W & P has a nice little series of scenarios on the battles around Borodino during the first push on Moscow. Due to the Panzers being diverted south for the encirclement of Kiev, this left the push on Moscow to the infantry, particularly the 2nd SS Das Reich division. But this was not the battle hardened division of the later war years, but a second line unit being used to mop up behind the army units. Pick to lead the attack on Moscow and thought to be the one that would be first into Moscow, the Das Reich was given the attack. But their "green" nature shown through in these early fights.

The Germans have a large force of SS troops, five plus companies of troops of GREN's, HMG's and ENG's, supported by StugIIIB's and some light mortars. The problems are morale, lower than normal, weapons and leaders below average as well. The Soviets have armor with some SMG's to support, but they are plagued by low morale, average leaders and most important less number of units. They will not be able to cover all that they need to defend so the Soviet's must pick and choose their defenses carefully. Mobility will be their key to move around the slow moving infantry. OBA slightly favors the Germans with 2x16 to 1x18 for the Soviets.

For the setup the Soviets get to hide units in the woods and towns. They take advantage of that and position several tanks in the woods on board 14 as well as the town and woods on board 4. This will give them a chance to pick off and slow down the SS advance before falling back to the town. But they cannot abandon board 14, they must occupy one road hex for a victory condition. The Germans will come on board 14 at the road as well as a force to the north-west to try to get around any defenders in the woods on board 14.

The game starts with the Germans coming on board and positioning to move up the road. A brave OSFTR and SCHAR take the lead up the road, but immediately come under OP fire from Soviet T34's killing on GREN step and disrupting the other. More GREN's move up to support but a second tank hits the Germans with OP fire killing another step of GREN's. Moving units south of the road does not help either as accurate OBA kills another step and demoralizes other. By now the Germans are reeling from the fire, but German OBA comes to the rescue, by scoring a demoralization on the T-34's in the woods. The LT leading the defense was killed by the shelling opening a gap in the Soviet defenses and the other GREN's move forward to enter the woods and weed out the supporting SMG's.

But there are still BT-7's in the woods and they put up a strong defense to the SS troops. Many disrupt and demoralize to there DF/OP fire before ENG's move up and assault them destroying on BT-7, but the other one gets away into the woods. With the demoralized T-34 they move deep into the woods. The Germans now have a decision pursue the tanks or advance down the road to the second woods. They opt for the later and move the remaining good order units up. This includes four HMG's positioned to fire on the next set of T-34's. But DF from the T-34's demoralize two HMG's and they flee back. This weakens the assault force and they are force to recover units before moving forward. This forces them to loss two turns to recoveries.

To the north the German flanking force made it around the woods with just some minor OP fire from a BT-7. The force of the LT Col, LT and four GREN's make it to the woods on board 4. This forces the Soviets in the town to reposition to face the northern woods to protect the town. Given that they don't have enough troops to cover all the town hexes the Germans look to get around the Soviets and attack from the south. They are able to maneuver to the south east of the town, but the Soviets reposition again to block the Germans.

At this point the SS troops moving up the road have regrouped and advance on the T-34 and SMG in the woods. The German StugIIIB's move to the south looking to flank the tanks and crossfire with the 50mm AT. But the T-34's move first and close on the Stug's. The Germans win the initiative by three and are able to cross fire on the T-34's destroying on platoon. But the second scores a kill and demoralization forcing the Stug's to retreat. The now lone T-34 moves back to cover the town.

In the center the T-34 and SMG put up a spirited fight and disrupt or demoralize the advancing SS, but the SS number show their strength and overrun the SMG unit and force the T-34 back. But at this point time is running out.

With two turns left the Germans have some troops near the town on board 4 and the road open to it. So they dash units forward to try to get into assaults with the Soviets. But just as this is happening two events tip the scales to the Soviets. First, the recovered T-34 and BT-7 in the woods move out and head west to cut off the road. The SS have the 50mm AT in position but it is too far away to get the T-34. The Stug's move back to deal with them but must fire at extreme range and miss. Second, the LT Col with three GREN's advance on the town, but the Soviets get the drop on them and two BT-7's fire on them scoring a step loss and disruptions and demoralizations. This puts an end to the German goal of capturing the town. In the end a major Soviet victory.